I am sitting in the newly remodeled and expanded fly tying room in the fly shop, listening to the wind pick up and the skies darken as a front pushes in over the Cascades and into Central Oregon.
Temperatures are going to drop 20 degrees from today to tomorrow.
I know there will be some precipitation coming in the next 48 hours and in the highest lakes (3 Creek and East) it is probably going to snow a little at night. Brrrr.

This week I was lucky to get over to Hosmer and East Lake a couple of times. More on that in a minute. Tomorrow is my day off and I am shooting for getting to the Metolius for the afternoon hatch!

The Metolius is fishing well. Drakes are on but have not peaked by any means. This means on most days you’ll see drakes, maybe just a few, but the fish are looking up for them. Some of the most intense Green Drake hatches are still ahead of us in June over the next 20 days or so.
PMD hatches are good most afternoons and you’ll see PMD’s all over the river from the Lake Creek run to below Bridge 99.
We’ve also been experiencing good caddis emergences and getting some Yellow Sally Stoneflies too.
We had a customer have a banner day on a black ant the other day! This of you that know me know I am a dry fly addict, and a match the hatch freak. I also love terrestrials and believe in them for lakes and rivers. The Metolius is no exception. The last couple of seasons I have been fishing more black beetle patterns on the Met because of my success with them on the lakes. I just feel a ton of confidence with them. Try it.
Euro Nymphing continues to be our #1 method of picking up fish now.
Indicator Nymphing and a bit of streamer action is good for redsides and bull trout now.

3 Creeks Lake is all snow free to the ramp. Fishing has been good on ants and leeches and some small midges on top.

The McKenzie is outstanding with dry flies! Our guides Adam and Troy have already been on the water a bunch with some incredible floats. Drakes, Yellow Mayflies, Caddis, Chubby’s and Stimulators are all really good now.
We’ve also found nymphing either running a dry-dropper or 2 nymphs run deep are quite good.

The Lower Deschutes is great. Our guides have been running the day stretch from Warm Springs to Trout Creek and the 3 day trip from TC to Maupin. All is well! Caddis hatches are strong and mix in with PMD and Pale Evening Duns and you are going to see a lot of chances to catch fish on top. Hot Nymphing with PMD Nymphs and Caddis Pupa.

The Upper Deschutes in the Headwater stretch is another spot the FFP guides have been exploring this week with good success. Small Streamers, Euro Nymphs and hatches of PMD’s, Caddis, Drakes and a few Golden Stones are just starting. Don’t forget your ants and beetles.

I was guiding Hosmer this week and maybe it’s the full moon, but the morning fishing/bite was off. 2 trips in a row now. But afternoon action picks up with Callibaetis hatches and spinners around lunch time for an hour or more.
I did a throat pump sample on a few fish, and they are eating leeches for sure. Every fish. Also caddis pupa (grey with a hint of yellow #12), small olive chironomids and callibaetis nymphs and emergers.

East Lake was tougher yesterday than on Sunday. Maybe related to the Full Moon? I think so.
There are still A LOT of rainbows trying to spawn around the edges of the lake now. When they are done and spread themselves back out across the lake and go in to a regular feeding pattern, I am sure we will see a lot of improvement.
There are no callibaetis yet. Seems late to me, so hopeful we will see them get going next week.
We had fish yesterday nymphing chironomids in shallow water (under 12 feet) and out in about 16 feet. Also, fishing a Type 3 full sink with a black leech produced some good fish.
With no callibaetis hatching, that limits the dry fly choices to Ants and Beetles. We’ve been getting some fish on both.
I rate East as good, but not easy at the moment.

Fall River is fishing quite well with both Dries and Small Nymphs. PMD’s are the primary hatch you’ll see, with some Green Drakes, Caddis, Yellow Sally’s, Midges, Rusty Spinners and small Terrestrials working on top. Nymphing is producing well. PMD Nymphs, Zebra Midges, Rainbow Warriors, Perdigons, Jigs and 2 Bit Hookers are top picks for us.

Crooked River is mixed reports. The water is back up to 280 cfs which is fine but a little high. A fair bit of green slime is in the drift, some days worse than others. This means on some days there is a fair amount of having to clean weeds off your hook.
Most of the fish have been on small nymphs, but swinging a small black wooly bugger or leech has been effective too.

PS- we’ve sure been appreciative of all the customers who have come in with masks on. We feel good about keeping each other healthy.
Thank you for all you do.